Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a statewide wildfire emergency as several large fires burned in Washington state and forecasters predicted more storms with high winds."Numerous wildfires across Washington pose a serious threat to homes, infrastructure, businesses and natural resources ... and our firefighting resources have begun to grow scarce," Gregoire said Wednesday following a helicopter tour of the largest fire, in the north-central part of the state.The proclamation allows state agencies to send money and resources to help local jurisdictions battle the blazes.As the governor flew over the 200-square-mile fire complex, flames leaped 100 feet into the air. Nearly 3,000 firefighters were assigned to the area.... http://www.cnn.com

The top U.S. general in the Middle East praised a major security clampdown in Baghdad on Thursday and said Iraq was far from civil war. On a day when three car bombs and two roadside bombs killed four people and wounded 24 in the capital, General John Abizaid told reporters: "I think there has been great progress on the security front in Baghdad recently. We are very optimistic that the situation will stabilize." The U.S. military has sent reinforcements to Baghdad to help the government take back the streets from sectarian militias and death squads, who have been blamed for the killing of thousands in violence that has raised fears of civil war. Abizaid, who met General John Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said comments he made earlier this month before the U.S. Senate in which he said the sectarian violence in Iraq was the worst he had seen had been misrepresented ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2352002

A series of attacks across Iraq killed more than a dozen people, including three U.S. soldiers, authorities said Thursday. The killings came despite assurances from U.S. officials that progress was being made to improve security in the capital. At least 13 Iraqis, including civilians, soldiers and police, were killed in bombings and shootings, becoming the latest casualties in the country's ongoing sectarian and political violence. One soldier was killed on Thursday afternoon in the capital when his patrol was attacked by gunmen, the U.S. military command said in a statement. Another American soldier died Thursday when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, the military said. The identities of both soldiers were withheld pending notification of their families. And another soldier was killed south of Baghdad on Wednesday during a raid to capture "foreign terrorists," the U.S. command said, adding that "two terrorists were also killed during the firefight."...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2352069

Two U.S. soldiers were killed in Baghdad on Thursday, a day after another U.S. soldier died in fighting to capture “foreign terrorists,” the U.S. military said. One soldier was killed on Thursday afternoon in the capital when his patrol was attacked by gunmen using small arms fire, the U.S. military command said in a statement. Earlier in the day, another soldier was killed when an improvised explosive device, the Army’s term for a roadside bomb, hit the vehicle in which he was traveling, the military said. Another soldier died on Wednesday south of Baghdad “when his unit came in contact with enemy forces,” said an earlier statement by the U.S. command. It said two terrorists were killed during the fire fight. “The unit was conducting operations to rid Iraq of foreign terrorists known to be operating in the area,” the statement said. It gave no other details. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14499338/

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. won U.S. approval to sell its Plan B "morning-after" contraceptive without a prescription to women 18 and older, the company said on Thursday. Younger girls still need a prescription for Plan B, Barr said in a statement. The Plan B pills may prevent pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse. The Food and Drug Administration approval follows more than three years of controversy. Backers and opponents of wider access had fiercely lobbied the agency, and the feud stalled the nominations of two FDA commissioners. Plan B will be kept behind pharmacy counters, Barr said. The pills should be available in a dual nonprescription and prescription package by the end of the year....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060824/bs_nm/contraceptive_dc

Sudan's ruling party has rejected a draft United Nations resolution on sending peacekeepers to Darfur. The plan would "impose complete tutelage" on Sudan, said National Congress Party chairman Ghazi Salah Eldin Atabani. The US and the UK have circulated the draft, calling for 17,000 well-equipped peacekeepers, at the Security Council. The UN and the African Union (AU) agree that the UN should take over the peace mission from the cash-strapped AU. On Sunday, two AU peacekeepers were shot and killed in Darfur, the AU says. "The draft resolution is worse than previous ones as it is an attempt to impose complete tutelage on the Sudan," Mr Atabani was quoted as saying after a meeting chaired by President Omar al-Bashir. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5282524.stm